Cocoa butter, which forms about 45%b of the bean is extracted by removing the beans from their pods and allowing them to ferment before they are dried, roasted, shelled and ground to the paste known as ‘cocoa liquor’ or ‘cocoa mass’.
The cocoa liquor is then by hydraulic, screw expelling or solvent extraction to produce cocoa butter. There is usually some oil remaining on the cocoa powder - it is impossible to take out all the fat simply by pressing.
Pressing liquor made from highest quality nibs gives the best quality cocoa butter which is designated ‘pure prime pressed’, but butter produced by expeller pressing of good quality nibs is almost equivalent. Solvent extraction is used only from extraction of cake residues from the expeller process or of other, waste, residues.
Prime pressed cocoa butter is usually used directly in chocolate without any further processing. This makes it unusual among fats in the most fats are refined before use to remove unwanted minor components such as free fatty acids, pigments, oxidation products and off-flavors.
Prime pressed cocoa butter
